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Sisterland (Hardcover)

Staff Reviews

Meet Kate and Vi - actually, you probably already know them. I know it seemed like I did when I read this book.Set in, St. Louis, this book tells the story of twins Kate and Vi, who grew up with the knowledge that each had "senses," premonitions about the future. One embraces her visions, while the other distances herself from them. Ok, at this point, you're either ready to buy the book because esp is interesting to you, or you're ready to click away from this page. Either way, hear me out.I didn't pick this up at first because I rolled my eyes at the premise, (esp, twins, giant earthquakes on the New Madrid Fault) but I picked it up because I really liked American Wife, and I enjoy Sittenfeld's writing enough that I though it was worth the shot, and I'm glad I did.Her writing in this book is every bit as good as Prep and American Wife. The sisters are written in imaginitive and entertaining language that reminded me of my relationship with my (almost) twin sister. Our sort of members only shorthand language together, and our games that were equal parts hers and my creation, which has lasted into adulthood - both my sisters and mine and Kate and Vi's. Sittenfeld captures you in the first pages and keeps you turning them, watching the family and public drama grow increasingly tense. The story is never heavy handed, and if you give this one a chance, I know you'll be just as glad as I was that you did.

— Jarek

July 2013 Indie Next List

“Sisters always have special relationships, but identical twin sisters
are a
world unto themselves,especially if they have ESP. 'Sisterland'
introduces
us to Violet and Kate as the trajectory of their lives goes from mad
closeness, to fragile separation as they attend different colleges,
then,
finally back to their native St. Louis. Their clairvoyance has colored
their lives, and suddenly Vi is on national news to warn of an
earthquake
that will strike within a week, wrecking havoc on everyone. Kate,
meanwhile, has tried to ignore her visions, marrying and raising two
children in suburban St. Louis. Sittenfield is a funny and sagacious
chronicler of the world we live in now, and the ways-- sometimes quirky,
sometimes conventional-- we try to order our world for security,
loyalty,
and love. I won't easily leave the enchanting world of
Sisterland”
— Sarah Bagby, Watermark Books, Wichita, KS

Description

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST NOVELS OF THE YEAR BY Slate • Daily Candy • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • The Guardian (U.K.)

“Novelists get called master storytellers all the time, but Sittenfeld really is one. . . . What might be most strikingly excellent about Sisterland is the way Sittenfeld depicts domesticity and motherhood.”—Maggie Shipstead, The Washington Post“Psychologically vivid . . . Sisterland is a testament to [Curtis Sittenfeld’s] growing depth and assurance as a writer.”—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times“[Sittenfeld’s] gifts are in full effect with this novel, and she uses them to create a genuinely engrossing sense of uncertainty and suspense.”—Sloane Crosley, NPR’s All Things Considered

Curtis Sittenfeld, author of American Wife and Prep, returns with a mesmerizing novel of family and identity, loyalty and deception, and the delicate line between truth and belief.

From an early age, Kate and her identical twin sister, Violet, knew that they were unlike everyone else. Kate and Vi were born with peculiar “senses”—innate psychic abilities concerning future events and other people’s secrets. Though Vi embraced her visions, Kate did her best to hide them.

Now, years later, their different paths have led them both back to their hometown of St. Louis. Vi has pursued an eccentric career as a psychic medium, while Kate, a devoted wife and mother, has settled down in the suburbs to raise her two young children. But when a minor earthquake hits in the middle of the night, the normal life Kate has always wished for begins to shift. After Vi goes on television to share a premonition that another, more devastating earthquake will soon hit the St. Louis area, Kate is mortified. Equally troubling, however, is her fear that Vi may be right. As the date of the predicted earthquake quickly approaches, Kate is forced to reconcile her fraught relationship with her sister and to face truths about herself she’s long tried to deny.

Funny, haunting, and thought-provoking, Sisterland is a beautifully written novel of the obligation we have toward others, and the responsibility we take for ourselves. With her deep empathy, keen wisdom, and unerring talent for finding the extraordinary moments in our everyday lives, Curtis Sittenfeld is one of the most exceptional voices in literary fiction today.

Praise for Sisterland“What’s most captivating about Sisterland is the intimate, intense portrayal of identical twin sisters. . . . [The novel] unfolds like a good prophecy—inevitable and shocking.”—San Francisco Chronicle

“The accomplished Sittenfeld . . . is as skillful as ever at developing an intriguing premise and likable characters. . . . Sittenfeld’s affectionate take on sibling rivalry is spot-on.”—People

“The power of [Sittenfeld’s] writing and the force of her vision challenge the notion that great fiction must be hard to read. She is a master of dramatic irony, creating fully realized social worlds before laying waste to her heroines’ understanding of them. . . . Her prose [is] a rich delight.”—The Boston Globe

“Wise and often wickedly entertaining . . . Readers who have siblings—especially women with sisters—will likely come away feeling as if the author really is psychic.”—USA Today

About the Author

Curtis Sittenfeld is the bestselling author of the novels "Prep, The Man of My Dreams, " and "American Wife," which have been translated into twenty-five languages. Her nonfiction has been published by "The New York Times, The Atlantic, "Salon, "Allure, "and" Glamour, "and broadcast on public radio's "This American Life." She graduated from Stanford University and the Iowa Writers' Workshop.

Praise For…

“Psychologically vivid . . . Sittenfeld’s gifts for portraying the inner lives of her heroines [bring Sisterland] closer, in terms of emotional chiaroscuro, to two classics about pairs of sisters, The Old Wives’ Tale by Arnold Bennett and The Easter Parade by Richard Yates . . . Sisterland is a testament to the author’s growing depth and assurance as a writer.”—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

“Novelists get called master storytellers all the time, but Sittenfeld really is one, a kind of no-nonsense, BabyBjörn-wearing Scheherazade. . . . What might be most strikingly excellent about Sisterland is the way Sittenfeld depicts domesticity and motherhood.”—Maggie Shipstead, The Washington Post

“[Sittenfeld’s] gifts are in full effect with this novel, and she uses them to create a genuinely engrossing sense of uncertainty and suspense.”—Sloane Crosley, NPR’s All Things Considered

“In [Sisterland], the accomplished Sittenfeld . . . is as skillful as ever at developing an intriguing premise and likable characters. . . . Sittenfeld’s affectionate take on sibling rivalry is spot-on.”—People

“The power of [Sittenfeld’s] writing and the force of her vision challenge the notion that great fiction must be hard to read. She is a master of dramatic irony, creating fully realized social worlds before laying waste to her heroines’ understanding of them. . . . Her prose [is] a rich delight.”—The Boston Globe

“Wise and often wickedly entertaining . . . Readers who have siblings—especially women with sisters—will likely come away feeling as if the author really is psychic, able to learn the truth of their own dark secrets, and forgive them.”—USA Today

“Full of quiet, surprisingly relatable moments, [Sisterland is] a thoughtful look at the near-supernatural closeness between sisters. . . . As she did so well in her first novel, Prep, Sittenfeld richly evokes the daily lives of young women who are trying to figure themselves out. . . . Sisterland is a compelling portrait of what it’s like to grow up alongside your best—and worst—self.”—Entertainment Weekly

“Arresting . . . Captivating . . . Sisterland is a long story of shake-ups: eerie precognitions, seismic shifts, lapses in fidelity. Like life itself, it graphs both the agonizing longueurs of domestic life and the horrific thrill of sudden disasters. . . . Character is [Sittenfeld’s] great strength, and the moral complexity of ordinary life her main subject. . . . Sisterland unfolds like a good prophecy—inevitable and shocking.”—San Francisco Chronicle